THE STEALERS + JOE PERFECT & THE CHAMPAGNE SOCIALISTS + BELMONDO – THE HOPE & RUIN, BRIGHTON 7.2.23
For new bands in Brighton, The Hope and Ruin is often an aspirational venue to headline. Its swirling light shows and mosh-worthy setting are a magnet for rockier local bands, and The Stealers are very much hoping to join those ranks. Born in Brighton, the trio are very much raised by the summer festivals they’ve played like Isle of Wight and The Great Escape, and aim to bring a little of that buzzing heat into the colder seasons with their headline show this Tuesday.
The show was also a bit of a “where are they now?” episode for two of the best-loved bands in my graduating class at BIMM. In fact Belmondo’s tunes have always been above the BIMM band stereotype of up-tempo indie, channelling a heavier industrial-inspired sound complete with a delightful amount of reverb.
The last time I saw Belmondo, they did seem a little nervous to be playing a bigger stage, with their set lacking the chemistry apparent in their music. However, their set on Tuesday proved sometimes we’ve gotta stumble before we can truly slay. The band’s stagecraft has come on leaps and bounds, and their time together has only drawn their vision of doomy grungy excellence into sharper focus.
Carmen Mellino is an utterly captivating frontwoman, pairing vampy goth dance moves with an arresting vocal range. Her more delicate singing is a mere taster of the soaring notes she’s capable of hitting. Their live interpretations of singles like ‘RTD’ also show guitarist and joint singer Kelan Moore can rip crowds a new one with his screamed vocals, adding some raw velocity to the project.
Following up was Joe Perfect & The Champagne Socialists, back with their first hometown gig of the new year. They’re a little funkier than their predecessors, but no less impressive. I was already a fan of the four-piece at university because of their name, and the eponymous Joe Perfect performed on Tuesday like he had, in fact, drunk quite a lot of champagne and was now bitching out his relatives for supporting fox hunting.
He could be seen stomping around The Hope & Ruin stage with a demented glint in his eye and a real sense of gravity to his voice, whether it was filled with angst or quietly pointed. Meanwhile, guitarist Johannes Eftring plays intricate yet catchy guitar riffs like it’s the easiest thing in the world.
The tracks Perfect brought out his acoustic guitar felt the least cohesive with their general vibe as a band, but luckily they salvaged things with a stellar final few tracks, including the headbanger of a closer ‘Driver, Do You Sleep With Men?’. By the end, they weren’t so much commanding our attention as performing at the picket line for it.
linktr.ee/thechampagnesocialists
In anticipation of our headliners’ arrival, the crowd really started filling out. It’s clear that The Stealers have built a pretty committed following for themselves already, and I can attest that the word of mouth surrounding them, pegs them as hotly tipped.
It took a while, though, for their set to get the same level of excitement. They were like a good pair of Doc Martens; heavy hitters once they’re broken in, but never truly comfortable until then.
Their unassuming presence onstage didn’t necessarily mean the tunes weren’t there; on the contrary, their balance of fuzzed-up guitar riffs with catchy hooks on both guitar and vocals made sure singles like ‘She Said’ had something for everyone. Once bassist Junior took the mic, though, his charisma and sing-song flow introduced even more variety to keep punters cheering – especially those the band summoned from the crowd to chant some choruses down the mic!
